prophet of doom : Java Glossary

A derogatory term used to discount anyone who predicts that, unless global changes
are made, there will be undesirable consequences. The implication is that the
prediction is based on religious augury and that the author has a morbid desire to
see terrible things happen. The usual way to discount a prophet of doom is to point
out some prediction made by some other prophet of doom that did not or has not yet
materialised and claim therefore that all such predictions are false. The term is
most commonly used by the parties who would have to make changes to avoid the
catastrophe, especially when those changes would be costly or painful.

Sometimes the term Cassandra is used. Cassandra was a
character in Homer’s Iliad who predicted disasters. She was invariably correct
and her predictions were invariably never heeded, a curse from Apollo for rejecting
his advances.